# Powershell support in Cursor

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/powershell-support-in-cursor/150009>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** terminal, cli, windows\
**Created:** [January 26, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/powershell-support-in-cursor/150009 "2026-01-26T23:34:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Andrew\_Wollack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aeb1de/32.png) [@Andrew\_Wollack](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Andrew_Wollack)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2026, 11:34pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/powershell-support-in-cursor/150009/1 "2026-01-26T23:34:02Z")

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### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

### Describe the Bug

I think there are two “bugs” loosely defined here:

First is that I just got the notification to install the cursor CLI when I opened cursor and it puts the following command into my terminal

curl [Cursor CLI · Cursor](https://cursor.com/install) -fsS | bash

this is the incorrect command because I am on windows and so the default terminal is PowerShell

The second “bug” or thing I wish was fixed and have been noticing for months is that AI agents will consistently fail their first command that they try to run in the command tool, using bash syntax, idk if this is a memory issue, i.e you told the AI at the start of the session that it should use powershell commands and it fails to or if you are not notifying the LLM of its environment, either way it might be beneficial to remind the agent before it does a call that it should use powershell syntax.

also your instructions to get the version are wrong, you need to go to the help menu → about → version

Thanks,  
Andrew Wollack

### Steps to Reproduce

Run cursor on windows, prompt the llm to do something that requires the terminal, fail

### Operating System

Windows 10/11

### Version Information

Version: 2.4.21 (user setup)  
VSCode Version: 1.105.1  
Commit: dc8361355d709f306d5159635a677a571b277bc0  
Date: 2026-01-22T16:57:59.675Z  
Build Type: Stable  
Release Track: Default  
Electron: 39.2.7  
Chromium: 142.0.7444.235  
Node.js: 22.21.1  
V8: 14.2.231.21-electron.0  
OS: Windows\_NT x64 10.0.26100

Make the forum more obvious that you should use the copy button instead of typing the version number

### For AI issues: which model did you use?

Opus 4.5

### Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![deanrie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/deanrie/32/1263_2.png) [@deanrie](https://forum.cursor.com/u/deanrie)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2026, 12:52pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/powershell-support-in-cursor/150009/3 "2026-01-27T12:52:54Z")

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Hey, thanks for the report.

On the first bug (CLI install command): You’re right. The official CLI docs really do show only `curl | bash` even for Windows, with a note to use WSL. The IDE notification doesn’t seem to be adapted for native PowerShell. I’ll pass this to the team. This is a valid bug.

On the second issue (the agent uses bash in the first command): I’ve seen a few similar reports from Windows users. I need a bit more info to spot the pattern:

- What’s your default terminal in Cursor Settings? (PowerShell 5 / PowerShell 7 / Git Bash)
- Does this happen in every new agent chat, or only the first time after a restart?
- Can you share an example of the bash command the agent is trying to run?

As a temporary workaround, you can add this to Cursor Rules:

```plaintext
When running terminal commands on Windows, always use PowerShell syntax (e.g., Copy-Item instead of cp, Remove-Item instead of rm).

```

But you shouldn’t need this. The agent should detect the environment automatically. Let me know your answers and I’ll help dig in.

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**Author:** ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/system/32/99069_2.png) [@system](https://forum.cursor.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2026, 12:53pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/powershell-support-in-cursor/150009/4 "2026-02-18T12:53:43Z")

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Closed on February 18, 2026, 12:53pm UTC

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